What Happens in Vegas
by aFineMess5
Summary: Karen considers her impending marriage to Lyle Finster.


What Happens in Vegas…

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of "Will & Grace." If they ever went on sale, though, I'd totally buy them. The lyrics to "Everything You Want" are copyright 1999 to Vertical Horizon and can be found on their CD, "Everything You Want."

Setting: Season 6, during "I Do/Oh, No, You Di-in't"

Summary: Karen considers her impending marriage to Lyle.

* * *

_You're waiting for someone to put you together  
You're waiting for someone to push you away  
There's always another wound to discover  
There's always something more you wish he'd say_

Karen stood in front of the gilded, full-length mirror of her dressing room. She smoothed down the satin of her simple Vera Wang wedding gown. Her hair was gathered elegantly at the crown of her head with an ivory flower tucked inside the curls. As usual, her makeup was done to perfection. The large diamond studs in her ears winked in the soft light, further emphasizing Karen's delicate features. The long antique necklace she wore around her neck was exquisite, adding a surprising, pleasant contrast to the very modern theme of her gown. In short, Karen Walker looked stunning. She looked like the very picture of beauty.

But her eyes were filled with tears.

This simple fact offered such poeticism to Karen at that moment. Here she was, a tower of beauty, on her wedding day, with tears filling her eyes and threatening to escape.

Karen didn't know how it had happened. She'd met Lyle Finster. It had seemed like the ultimate plan of revenge: have a fling with Lorraine's father. If Lorraine was going to steal her Stanley, then Karen would just have to steal her father. Of course, she hadn't intended on it lasting. It was supposed to be another game of Karen's, one of the many that she played everyday. Lyle would fall in love with her, Karen would be able to dangle this in front of Lorraine's nose, and then Karen would grow bored and end it.

But somehow things had severely spiraled out of control. Lorraine exercised more clout than Karen would have thought and demanded that Lyle make a choice: her or Karen. Surprisingly, Lyle had chosen Karen. The hurt, betrayal, and shock that had filled Lorraine's very being at that moment had satisfied Karen more than Lyle could ever hope to. Karen felt mollified; at least she was getting some of her own back.

Then Lorraine had declared that it wouldn't last, it couldn't possibly last. So Karen had gone on a vengeance quest to prove to Lorraine that it very well could. Lyle had become more and more enraptured with Karen, something that she was completely unaware of. She was so intent on hurting Lorraine at every turn that she hadn't noticed that the man was absolutely drooling over her.

Karen then vamped it up, pretended to be just as in love with Lyle as he was with her. Of course, looking back, Karen secretly realized how cruel she had been. After all, Lyle was a good man, despite the offspring he produced. He had good intentions and he did treat Karen well. Karen hadn't anticipated the game going as far as this, but gone it had and Karen had to deal with it accordingly.

Then Lyle proposed. Karen didn't know what had come over her to cause her to actually say yes. It was a game, all a game that was taken entirely too far. Karen realized that with every day she let this continue, it would hurt Lyle more when she broke it off. But Karen also noticed how much it was hurting Lorraine.

As much as Karen blamed her late ex-husband Stanley for the affair, part of her couldn't help but point the finger at Lorraine. There Stan had been, alone and lonely. Probably hungry, too. Lorraine must have taken advantage of him, Karen figured; Stan had been so vulnerable.

And Karen was still hurting. Stan had passed away a year ago, but it still hurt. The cheating, the impending divorce, the sudden death. It all hurt Karen more than words could say and so she reverted to a child-like mentality and figured she'd hurt Lorraine to appease her own.

As her eyes filled with even more tears, Karen, ever the seasoned pro at hiding feelings, tipped her head back and carefully closed her eyes. She felt the tears recede slowly and when she opened her eyes again, they were clear, albeit glassy.

A soft knock on her dressing room door shook Karen out of her reverie.

"Come in!" Karen called out, reaching over and grabbing her powder brush, absentmindedly sweeping her cheekbones.

Rosario entered the room, shutting the door behind her. She held a gorgeous bouquet of pink and yellow roses tied in an ivory satin bow. "Miss Karen, your bouquet." She set the flowers down carefully on the vanity.

"Thanks, Rosie," Karen replied absently.

Rosario opened her mouth once, thought for a moment, and closed it. She repeated this two times before Karen finally said something.

"Rosario, cut it out, you look like a hungry seal," Karen said.

"Miss Karen, are you happy?" Rosario blurted out.

Karen paused, then unfroze and set down her blush brush. She glanced at her maid in the mirror and asked, "Why do you ask that?"

Rosario mentally took note of what Karen had said and how she'd evaded the question. "I was just asking, Miss Karen. You seem to be upset." _You seem to have been upset for the past two years,_ Rosario thought, not daring to say this aloud.

"I think I'd know better than anyone, Rosie, and I'm fine," Karen told her.

Rosario considered this statement. "Mr. Stan used to say that you didn't always know your emotions that well, that sometimes he needed to help you figure them out." Karen's eyes slowly met Rosario's in the gilded mirror.

"Well, Stan isn't here now, is he?" Karen snapped. "So I guess we'll never know."

Rosario looked down at the carpet. "Miss Karen, I don't think you should marry Mr. Finster."

Karen's eyes narrowed. "And why not?"

"It may be out of my place-"

"You're a six-hour plane ride and a one-hour banana boat ride back to _your place_, Rosie, so just spit it out!" Karen exclaimed.

"Never mind, Miss Karen," Rosario replied. She was never one to bite her tongue, but if Karen didn't realize it on her own, Rosario wouldn't be able to help her. "I believe the ceremony is about to begin soon."

"Then get the hell out of here and let me finish getting ready," Karen said forcefully. Rosario detected the slight wobble in her throat and nodded, exiting the room.

Karen took a deep, shaky breath and grabbed the bouquet.

_He's everything you want_

_He's everything you need_

Karen gritted her teeth while Lyle continued talking.

"She let me have light beer when she didn't want it. She's taking a course in salt water taffy pulling, although she didn't want to," Lyle said into the microphone, looking out at the filled room.

Karen had never had to change for any man. Most notably, Stan had accepted her for who, what, and how she was. He'd accepted her faults (though Karen didn't think she had many), her trappings, her colorful past, her interesting hobbies. He'd adored Karen for everything she stood for and never once asked her to change.

"She's well on the way to becoming a registered rugby referee. And she has agreed to fund my traveling puppet theater, even though she most certainly did not want to," Lyle continued, oblivious to his new bride's increasingly cloudy expression.

She had to face it. Against all judgment, logic, and reason, Karen still loved Stan. Yes, he'd hurt her, and yes, he was gone now, but for some reason, Karen couldn't bring herself to come to terms with it. She couldn't get any closure on her marriage with Stan; a small part of her that she'd never admit to still thought somehow things were going to work out. And until Karen got over that, she doubted her ability to be with anyone else.

"She took my name when she didn't want to. She even got married in Vegas without her best friend. Even though she didn't want to. Come up here, my darling," Lyle said to her, holding out his hand and beckoning her to the stage.

She walked up to the stage where Lyle stood, slightly unaware of her actions, too caught up in her own thoughts. She was Karen Walker. It was who she had been for years. Karen Walker. Not Karen Delaney, not Karen St. Croix-Popeil, and certainly not Karen Finster. She was Karen Walker, through and through.

"How lucky I am to find a woman who's happy to mortgage her entire personal identity just for me. I love you, darling. Would you like to say something?" Lyle asked, turning to face her.

Karen grinned nervously at him. He really was a nice man. But he wasn't the right man. As far as Karen was concerned, that told her enough. She glanced at Lyle once more with what she hoped were apologetic eyes and leaned toward the microphone.

"I want a divorce."

_But he means nothing to you and you don't know why_


End file.
